The Three Stooges, The Collection 1955–1959

Shemp dies but cannot get into heaven until he reforms Moe and Larry. He returns to earth as an invisible spirit and sets out to prevent the other two Stooges, who are in league with the devil, from selling a phony invention (a fountain pen that writes under whip cream) to a rich couple. Shemp sabotages Moe and Larry' plans and makes it through the pearly gates.

The Stooges go to criminology school and graduate with the lowest possible honors. The boys join the police force and are assigned to track down a crook called the "Eel", who disguises himself as a woman. The Stooges track the Eel to a hotel, but he slips through their hands after a wild chase. The Stooges are booted off the force and wind up as ditch diggers.

The Stooges are would-be reporters, who are tricked into becoming stowaways by "Borscht", a spy for an enemy country. Stranded on a freighter on the high seas, they discover that Borscht has concealed some stolen microfilm in watermelons they brought aboard for him. After a wild chase, they subdue Borscht and recover the microfilm.

The Stooges are movers for an express company and on a rainy night are sent to move some junk, including a suit of armor, from a spooky old house. The armor is haunted by the ghost of Sir Tom, who has no intention of leaving. The ghost foils the Stooges attempts to take the armor, and is about to skewer them with a sword when it's revealed that the Stooges were only telling a bedtime story to their "sons" (also played by the Stooges.)

The Stooges are taking care of their invalid friend Mary who is confined to a wheelchair. At their jobs in a theater, where they hope to earn money for an operation for Mary, they witness a hypnotist, doing his act. The Stooges become subjects for his show and are hypnotized into walking out on a flagpole high above the ground. When they come out of their trance and realize their predicament they fall into a window and foil a robbery in progress thus earning reward money to pay for Mary's operation. [A remake of "Hocus Pocus".]

The Stooges are private detectives hired to protect a rich politician. After the man disappears, the boys wander around his spooky mansion confronting various villains and a dangerous dame. The Stooges vanquish the crooks (Shemp uses his "trusty shovel") and find the missing man.

Told in flashback, Moe is on trial for assaulting Larry and Joe. It seems that Moe was in debt and suffering a nervous breakdown so Larry and Joe took him to the country for rest and relaxation. After a marauding bear ruined the peace and quiet, their cabin became the scene of a shoot-out between the sheriff and an escaped outlaw. The boys captured the bad guy, and the reward would have paid Moe's debts, but the crook escaped and Moe went after Larry and Joe with an ax. [ A partial remake of "Idiots Deluxe".]

Larry and Shemp reminisce about their experiences with Jean, a diamond crazy gold digger each of them was gypped by. After telling their stories, they have a run in with Moe, who is now married to the same women. When Jean shows up, they deliver some stooge-style revenge.

Joe dreams that the stooge's sister Birdie has died and been reincarnated as a horse. The Stooges take Birdie home but must conceal her from the snoopy landlord. They succeed, but more complications ensue when Birdie gives birth to a colt. Joe wakes up to suffer some abuse from the real Birdie (Moe in drag), when he tells her he dreamed she was a horse.

A sequel (sort of) to "Hoofs and Goofs", the Stooges are taking care of their sister Birdie who has been reincarnated as a horse. When they learn that her mate "Schnapps", a famous circus horse, is about to be destroyed, they got to the circus grounds to rescue him. The Stooges are successful, and Birdie and Schnapps are reunited.

The Stooges apply for job as 'Yard Men' at Scotland Yard, thinking they'll become detectives, but instead wind up as gardeners. When they accidentally see a memo about the theft a famous diamond, the boys decide to go after the crooks. They find the crooks, but Shemp accidentally swallows the diamond, which was hidden in a bowl of candy. The bad guys want to cut the diamond out, but the boys foil them with the help of a friendly gorilla.

The Stooges are government agent entrusted with protecting professor Sneed, who has invented a super rocket fuel. Larry is mistaken for the professor by foreign agents who kidnap the trio and take them to the country of Anemia where they are ordered to produce the rocket fuel or be executed. The boys come up with a concoction they try to pass of as the real stuff, but are exposed when the real professor and his daughter are also kidnapped. The Stooges help them escape, using their secret formula to fuel a jeep.

To inherit a fortune, voice teacher Shemp must marry before six o'clock, but no girl will accept his proposal. Finally one of his repulsive students agrees to marry him, just in the nick of time. When the rest of the prospective brides hear about the inheritance, they show up at the ceremony and a free for all ensues. Shemp marries his student before the deadline, and then finds out that there is no inheritance. Moe and Larry have tricked him into marriage as revenge for their marrying his shrewish sisters. [A remake of "Brideless Groom".]

The Stooges appear in triplicate as three sets of triplets who were separated a long time ago. Their reunion causes confusion and troubles for various wives and sweethearts, but it all works out in the end.

Joe is engaged but can't get married until he recovers the engagement ring which has disappeared. The Stooges suspect the ring was stolen by Elmo, a beefy bully, who works at the same factory they do. They confront Elmo in the company gym, but he's too tough for them. Fortunately Joe's girl is even tougher, and she gets Elmo to confess and return the ring.

The Stooges witness an armed robbery and are brought in by the cops as suspects. After passing a lie detector test, the boys are freed and go back to their jobs in a Cafe. When one of the robbers comes into the Cafe, the boys recognize him and along with their friend Gladys trail him to a spooky house in the country where the crooks are hiding out. The bad guys abduct Gladys and the Stooges must rescue her. (A remake of "Shivering Sherlocks".)

The Stooges accompany professor Jones on an expedition to Venus, where they discover that the Venusians are planning to conquer the earth with an army of zombies. When the boys learn that they're going to be turned into zombies, they escape. The scene changes to the Stooges apartment where we learn they are just telling a bedtime story to their kids (also played by the Stooges) while they wait for the baby sitter to arrive. When the baby sitter shows up, she looks like one of the zombies and the boys exit in a hurry.

Set in a desert land where the Stooges run a restaurant, the boys need money to pay their fiancee's taxes, or the girls will be sold as slaves. Some crooks come into their restaurant and convince the boys to recover the stolen Rootin Tootin diamond. The Stooges decide to return the diamond to the government and get the reward money. They learn that the Emir of Shmo has absconded with the contraband jewel. They journey to the stronghold of Shmo where they disguise as Santa Clauses and scare the ruler into giving them the diamond.

The Stooges don't know it, but they are all engaged to the same girl, a gold-digger who plans to get an engagement ring from each of them and then abandon them. When all three show up at her house at the same time, a wild fight ensues, as each stooge accuses the others of making time with "his" girl. The gold-digger gets it in the end (literally) with tacks shot from a repeating rifle. (A remake of "Corny Casanovas".)

The Stooges are three incompetent plumbers who foul up the plumbing in a fancy mansion where a society party is going on. They manage to catch a couple of thieves masquerading as guests before the whole party degenerates into a pie fight. [A remake of "Vagabond Loafers", with footage from "A Plumbing we will go" and "Half-Wits Holiday". Joe Palma (face hidden) stands in for Shemp.

An eccentric scientist tricks the Stooges into joining himself and his daughter on an expedition to Venus. On Venus, the boys go exploring and encounter some cannibalistic amazons who plan to devour them. The Stooges escape and take off in the spaceship, which goes wildly out of control. As the ship is about to crash, the scene changes to the annual meeting of the Liars Club, where the Stooges win the prize as the biggest liars in the world.

The Stooges hope to collect a reward by proving to a museum that cavemen still exist. They return from their expedition with a film purporting to show some stone age Stooges defending their women from other cavemen. The museum curators are about to pay the reward, until they overhear the Stooges talking about how they faked the film, with themselves playing the cavemen.

Shemp is a sick man with a bad case of nerves. The stooge's friend Claude, a self-taught healer, tries to cure Shemp with various home- made remedies. When nothing seems to work, Claude suggests they buy his old lemon of a car so they can take Shemp on a trip to the country. The car won't start, and the trip never gets off the ground, but not to worry, Shemp is cured by all the excitement.

The Stooges reminisce about their wartime romances in Europe. After they finish their tales, they discover that Joe's girl Fifi, whom he left behind in Paris, has moved in next door. The only problem is that she's now married, with a very jealous husband. The husband turns out to be a real cad, and when Fifi overhears him tell about his plans to find a new wife, she clobbers him and goes back to Joe.

The Stooges are the trainers of "Chopper", a beefy boxer, and they bet their bankroll on Chopper to win his next fight. When "Big Mike", their boss, tells them to have Chopper lose or they'll lose their lives, the boys try to soften up Chopper so he'll lose. The fight gets canceled and the Stooges have to contend with an angry Big Mike and his goons.

Joe accidentally takes a picture of a paper plate, which Moe and Larry submit to a magazine as an authentic picture of a flying saucer. Moe and Larry collect a big prize, but when the picture is proven to be phony, they're hauled off to Jail. Joe then gets a picture of a real spaceship and this time he gets the fame and fortune, while Moe and Larry wind up in a sanitarium.

The Stooges need money for their father's operation, so they head for the country to prospect for uranium. Instead of uranium, they discover oil on their father's property and all their troubles are solved.

A professor attempts to win a bet by turning the Stooges into gentlemen. After some lessons in etiquette, the boys make their society debut at a fancy party. They soon revert to their old habits and a wild pie fight ensues.

Joe wins a contest and is promptly fleeced out of his winnings by some con men. When the Stooges go to recover his money, the bad guys convince them that they can get rich by posing as children and becoming the wards of a millionaire. The boys go along with the plan, not realizing that the "millionaire" and his pretty niece are in on the scam and are planning to knock them off. The Stooges foil the plan and recover Joe's money.

Stranded in Mexico, the Stooges need a job and a pretty actress friend gets them an engagement at the Plaza de Toros. When they accidentally switch suitcases with that of their friend, they must sneak into her house to retrieve their own and are confronted by her jealous husband who vows to kill them if he sees them again. At the arena where they perform a comedy bullfight (Joe is the matador, Moe and Larry are in a bull costume) the husband bribes the attendants to let a real bull into the ring. Joe knocks the bull out with a head butt and becomes a hero.

Nightclub performer Larry wants Joe and his sister Tiny to join the act. The only problem is that Tiny is afraid to sing in front of people. They take her to a psychiatrist (Moe) who cures her, and the act is a success.

Larry is a pet dealer who's seeing Moe's wife while at the same time trying to steal Joe's fiancee. When Moe becomes suspicious, Larry attempts to frame Joe as the boyfriend. Larry's plan backfires when Joe catches him and lets Moe deliver some punishment.